Walton Specimen 1913 Liberty Head Nickel Realizes $3.17 Million

One of the highlights in American numismatics was auctioned at the spring 2013 Central States Numismatic Society convention held in Chicago, IL. An example of the famed 1913 Liberty Head Nickel was sold by Heritage Auctions from Dallas, TX. The storied Walton Specimen, deemed to be the third finest of the five coins known to exist, realized $3,172,500 including the buyer’s premium.

There is a reason that the write-up in the auction catalog is one of the longest ever seen in any numismatic catalog,. First of all, it is not very often that a 100 year old coin that is so famed that even most casual collectors will be familiar with its rarity and back story. It also does not happen often (or at all) that the particular coin in question was deemed lost for over 40 years following an automobile accident in which the coin’s owner was tragically killed. And it almost never happens that one of the factors that brought the coin back into the numismatic theater was a substantial reward offered by Bowers and Merena.

Extensive details about this particular specimen of the 1913 Liberty Nickel can be found in the auction description, which is well worth sitting down for, as some of the most well-known numismatic authors collaborated on the description. The story, very briefly, is as follows: After striking five 1913 Liberty Nickels at the Philadelphia Mint (for unknown reasons and perhaps in secrecy after the new Buffalo Nickel design had been introduced) all five examples traded hands numerous times as a group until they were sold individually by Eric P. Newman (the only person alive today that can say he owned all five 1913 Liberty Nickels at the same time). The finest known ended up in the Eliasberg collection while others were (most likely permanently) impounded in the Smithsonian and ANA collections. This left the Olsen specimen (most often encountered at auction during the past couple of decades) and the Walton specimen just sold by Heritage at Central States.

The Walton specimen traded hands numerous times before it was placed in the George Walton Collection. It was part of his collection which he took with him to a numismatic convention in North Carolina for public display. On the way there, Walton got into an automobile accident and was tragically killed. Most of his collection would be sold by family members shortly afterwards; people knew that there was a 1913 Liberty Nickel in his collection, but it was never sold. It had disappeared after the American Numismatic Society had deemed it to be a counterfeit, and returned to Walton’s family.

Fast forward to 2003, when a publicity stunt by Bowers and Merena revealed the long-lost fifth 1913 Liberty Nickel. It had turned out that the coin had been passed on within Walton’s immediate family, always carefully stored in a closet as a special family heirloom. The once-declared fake came to the light, was authenticated, and now offered for the very first time at public auction. This process is detailed in the auction description from several points of view, along with an interesting look on the process of authenticating one of the most counterfeited coins in the world.

The Walton specimen might not be the finest known of the five 1913 Liberty Nickels that have survived the past century, but it surely is the most storied and the most colorful, almost as famous as the Olsen specimen that starred in a Hawaii Five-O episode. The coin resides in a black plastic case made by George Walton himself. It reads in all-caps “1913 U.S. Liberty Head Nickel” on top and “OWNED BY GEORGE WALTON / M.A.N.A. PRESIDENT 1956 A.N.A., L.M. 229 / ONLY 5 OF THESE KNOWN / ORIGINALLY OWNED BY COL. GREEN”. PCGS understood the historic significance of this holder and decided to leave the coin in the original when certifying the piece, instead placing a label on the front of the holder. This is one of the very few instances PCGS has done this, and it is another indication of the importance of the Walton Specimen of the 1913 Liberty Nickel. The coin might be off the market for a very long time, but when it reappears, it is likely to cause a lot of attention just as it did this time.

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Comments

A briefer, AP Newswire from earlier today discussed this coin and the related auction. I found it interesting that the AP article included the language, “It was surreptitiously and illegally cast,…” You have similarly indicated that, “After striking five 1913 Liberty Nickels at the Philadelphia Mint (for unknown reasons and perhaps in secrecy…”

So, if there is a perponderance of doubt as to whether or not these Liberty Head Nickels had been authorized, monetized, and released for circulation, then why are these coins not treated any differently than the 1933 Gold Double Eagles?? Did the gold confiscation actions of the time really make that much of a difference in the respective actions taken??

I would really appreciate your thoughts on the matter. If it already has been discussed in other articles or forums, please point me towards them.

It’s a complicated legal matter that touches on both federal jurisdiction as well as the fact how the Mint treats patterns and related coins; technically, many patterns should be illegal to own such we know they were often struck under shady circumstances for just the private gain of Mint employees. Yet I know of no modern cases where 19th or early 20th century patterns were confiscated by the Secret Service, but then we do have the 1974 Aluminum cents that were confiscated.

The 1913 Liberty Nickel is clearly not an official Mint issue; we do not know exactly the circumstances of their creation, but it definitely was a shady matter. As far as I know their legality, like other such issues (1868 Large Cents come to mind, Judd 610/611). The reasons seem to be controversial especially when compared to the 1933 Double Eagle. Remember, the 1933 Double Eagle was never officially released and an order came not to release them and melt the entire mintage; the fact that an export license to Egypt was issued for the sole 1933 Double Eagle that is legal to own (the Farouk specimen) made that particular coin the only one available on the public market. The rest was just not released and must have been illegally removed from the Mint. The 10 1933 Double Eagles the subject of a current court case illustrate this fact quite clearly.

The easiest explanation that I can come up with is the fact that patterns and coins such as the 1913 Liberty Nickel were never meant to circulate; they are fantasy products/test pieces perhaps more closely related to medals than to actual coins. Perhaps it is this distinction that the government uses; however, their exact motivations however are unknown to me.

Only five genuine 1913 Liberty Head nickels are known to exist, so it’s likely a replica or a counterfeit. Your best bet is to take it to a dealer who is a member of the American Numismatic Association or the Professional Numismatists Guild for an evaluation.

I saw a short documentary that featured this coin and the owner was sort of forced to sell the coin due to a massive tax or something similar that was incurred when it became known he had a mega $$ coin or maybe he could not afford the insurance on it if he were to keep it. I can’t recall if the situation was ‘you just increased your income this year by millions’ even though he only had the coin and not the millions at the time. Anybody know about this aspect of the situation? Thanks.